NAME
    CGI::SpeedyCGI - Speed up perl CGI scripts by running them persistently

SYNOPSIS
     #!/usr/bin/speedy

     ### Your CGI Script Here
     print "Content-type: text/html\n\nHello World!\n";

     ##
     ## Optionally, use the CGI::SpeedyCGI module for various things
     ##

     # Create a SpeedyCGI object
     use CGI::SpeedyCGI;
     my $sp = CGI::SpeedyCGI->new;

     # See if we are running under SpeedyCGI or not.
     print "Running under speedy=", $sp->i_am_speedy ? 'yes' : 'no', "\n";

     # Set up a shutdown handler
     $sp->set_shutdown_handler(sub { do something here });

     # Set/get some SpeedyCGI options
     $sp->setopt('timeout', 30);
     print "maxruns=", $sp->getopt('maxruns'), "\n";

DESCRIPTION
    SpeedyCGI is a way to run CGI perl scripts persistently, which usually
    makes them run much more quickly. Converting scripts to use SpeedyCGI is
    in many cases as simple has changing the interpreter line at the top of
    the script from

        #!/usr/bin/perl

    to

        #!/usr/bin/speedy

    After the script is initially run, instead of exiting, SpeedyCGI keeps
    the perl interpreter running in memory. During subsequent runs, this
    interpreter is used to handle new requests, instead of starting a new
    perl interpreter for each execution.

    SpeedyCGI conforms to the CGI specification, and does not work inside
    the web server. A very fast cgi-bin, written in C, is executed for each
    request. This fast cgi-bin then contacts the persistent Perl process,
    which is usually already in memory, to do the work and return the
    results.

    Since all of these processes run outside the web server, they can't
    cause problems for the web server itself. Also, each perl program runs
    as its own Unix process, so one program can't interfere with another.
    Command line options can also be used to deal with programs that have
    memory leaks or other problems that might keep them from otherwise
    running persistently.

OPTIONS
  Setting Option Values

    SpeedyCGI options can be set in several ways:

    Command Line
        The speedy command line is the same as for regular perl, with the
        exception that SpeedyCGI specific options can be passed in after a
        "--".

        For example the line:

                #!/usr/bin/speedy -w -- -t300

        at the top of your script will set the perl option "`-w'" and will
        pass the "`-t'" option to SpeedyCGI, setting the Timeout value to
        300 seconds.

    Environment
        Environment variables can be used to pass in options. This can only
        be done before the initial execution, not from within the script
        itself. The name of the environment variable is always SPEEDY_
        followed by the option name in upper-case. For example to set the
        speedy Timeout option, use the environment variable named
        SPEEDY_TIMEOUT.

    CGI::SpeedyCGI
        The CGI::SpeedyCGI module provides the setopt method to set options
        from within the perl script at runtime. There is also a getopt
        method to retrieve the current options. See the section on "METHODS"
        below.

    mod_speedycgi
        If you are using the optional Apache module, SpeedyCGI options can
        be set in the httpd.conf file. The name of the apache directive will
        always be Speedy followed by the option name. For example to set the
        speedy Timeout option, use the apache directive SpeedyTimeout.

  Context

    Not all options below are available in all contexts. The context for
    which each option is valid is listed on the "Context" line in the
    section below. There are three contexts:

    speedy
        The command-line "speedy" program, used normally with #! at the top
        of your script or from a shell prompt.

    mod_speedycgi
        The optional Apache mod_speedycgi module.

    module
        During perl execution via the CGI::SpeedyCGI module's getopt/setopt
        methods.

  Options Available

    BackendProg
            Command Line    : -pstr
            Default Value   : /usr/bin/speedy_backend
            Context         : mod_speedycgi, speedy

            Description:

                Path to the speedy backend program.

    BufsizGet
            Command Line    : -BN
            Default Value   : 8192
            Context         : speedy

            Description:

                Use this many bytes for the buffer that
                receives data from the CGI script.

    BufsizPost
            Command Line    : -bN
            Default Value   : 1024
            Context         : speedy

            Description:

                Use this many bytes for the buffer that sends
                data to the CGI script.

    MaxBackends
            Command Line    : -MN
            Default Value   : 0 (no max)
            Context         : mod_speedycgi, speedy

            Description:

                If non-zero, limits the number of speedy
                backends running for this cgi script to this
                value.

    MaxRuns
            Command Line    : -rN
            Default Value   : 500
            Context         : mod_speedycgi, module, speedy

            Description:

                Once the perl interpreter has run this many
                times, re-exec the backend process.  Zero
                indicates no maximum.  This option is useful
                for processes that tend to consume resources
                over time.

    PerlArgs
            Command Line    : N/A
            Default Value   : 
            Context         : mod_speedycgi

            Description:

                Command-line options to pass to the perl
                interpreter.

    Timeout
            Command Line    : -tN
            Default Value   : 3600 (one hour)
            Context         : mod_speedycgi, module, speedy

            Description:

                If no new requests have been received after
                this many seconds, exit the persistent perl
                interpreter.  Zero indicates no timeout.

    TmpBase
            Command Line    : -Tstr
            Default Value   : /tmp/speedy
            Context         : mod_speedycgi, speedy

            Description:

                Use the given prefix for creating temporary
                files.  This must be a filename prefix, not a
                directory name.

    Version
            Command Line    : -v
            Context         : speedy

            Description:

                Print the SpeedyCGI version and exit.

METHODS
    The following methods are available in the CGI::SpeedyCGI module.

    new 
        Create a new CGI::SpeedyCGI object.

            my $sp = CGI::SpeedyCGI->new;

    set_shutdown_handler($function_ref)
        Register a function that will be called right before the perl
        interpreter exits. This is not at the end of each request, it is
        when the perl interpreter decides to exit completely (due to a
        timeout, maxruns, etc)

            $sp->set_shutdown_handler(sub {$dbh->logout});

    i_am_speedy
        Returns a boolean telling whether this script is running under
        SpeedyCGI or not. A CGI script can run under regular perl, or under
        SpeedyCGI. This method allows the script to tell which environment
        it is in.

            $sp->i_am_speedy;

    setopt($optname, $value)
        Set one of the SpeedyCGI options given in the section on "Options
        Available". Returns the option's previous value. $optname is case-
        insensitive.

            $sp->setopt('TIMEOUT', 300);

    getopt($optname)
        Return the current value of one of the SpeedyCGI options. $optname
        is case-insensitive.

            $sp->getopt('TIMEOUT');

INSTALLATION
    SpeedyCGI has been tried with perl version 5.004_04 under Solaris 2.6
    and version 5.005_03, under Redhat Linux 6.1. There may be problems with
    other OSes or earlier versions of Perl.

  Standard Install

    To install, do the following:

        perl Makefile.PL
        make
        make test
        make install

    This will install the speedy and speedy_backend binaries in the same
    directory where perl was installed, and the SpeedyCGI.pm module in the
    standard perl lib directory. It will also attempt to install the
    mod_speedycgi module if you have the command apxs in your path.

  Install in a Different Directory

    To install in a different directory, change the first line in the
    section on "Standard Install" to:

        perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/somewhere

    This will install the binaries in /somewhere/bin and the SpeedyCGI.pm
    module under /somewhere/lib.

  Apache Installation

    To use the optional apache mod_speedycgi module you must have the apxs
    command in your path. Redhat includes this command with the "apache-
    devel" RPM, though it may not work properly for installation.

    If the apache installation fails:

    *   Copy the mod_speedycgi.so from the mod_speedycgi directory to wherever
        your apache modules are stored (try /usr/lib/apache)

    *   Edit your httpd.conf (try /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf) and add the
        following lines. The path at the end of the LoadModule directive may
        be different in your installation -- look at other LoadModules to
        see.

            LoadModule speedycgi_module modules/mod_speedycgi.so
            AddModule mod_speedycgi.c

  Apache Configuration

    Once mod_speedycgi is installed, it has to be configured to be used for
    your perl scripts. There are two methods.

    Warning! The instructions below may compromise the security of your web
    site. The security risks associated with SpeedyCGI are similar to those
    of regular CGI. If you don't understand the security implications of the
    changes below then don't make them.

    1. Path Configuration
        This is similar to the way /cgi-bin works - everything under this
        path is handled by SpeedyCGI. Add the following lines near the top
        of your httpd.conf - this will cause all scripts in your cgi-bin
        directory to be handled by SpeedyCGI when they are accessed as
        /speedy/script-name.

            Alias /speedy/ /home/httpd/cgi-bin/
            <Location /speedy>
                SetHandler speedycgi-script
                Options ExecCGI
                allow from all
            </Location>

    2. File Extension Configuration
        This will make SpeedyCGI handle all files with a certain extension,
        similar to the way .cgi files work. Add the following lines near the
        top of your httpd.conf file - this will set up the file extension
        ".speedy" to be handled by SpeedyCGI.

            AddHandler speedycgi-script .speedy
            <Location />
                Options ExecCGI
            </Location>

BUGS / TODO
    Please report any bugs or requests for changes to speedycgi@newlug.org.
    The current bugs / todo list can be found at
    http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/speedycgi/. Go to the Bug Tracking
    menu and select the group "bug" for bugs, or the group "rfe" for the
    todo list.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
    How does the speedy front end connect to the back end process?
        Via a Unix socket in /tmp. A queue is kept in /tmp that holds an
        entry for each process. In that queue are the pids of the perl
        processes waiting for connections. The CGI-front end pulls a process
        out of this queue, connects to its socket, sends over the
        environment and argv, and then uses this socket for stdin/stdout to
        the perl process.

    If another request comes in while a CGI is running, does the client
    have to wait or is another process started?  Is there a way to set a limit
    on how many processes get started?
        If another request comes while all the perl processes are busy, then
        another perl process is started. Just like in CGI there is normally
        no limit on how many processes get started. But, the processes are
        only started when the load is so high that they're necessary. If the
        load goes down, the processes will die off due to inactivity, unless
        you disable the timeout.

        Starting in version 1.8.3 an option was added to limit the number of
        perl backends running. See MaxBackends in the section on "Options
        Available" above.

    How much of perl's state is kept when speedy starts another request?
    Do globals keep their values?  Are destructors run after the request?
        Globals keep their values. Nothing is destroyed after the request.
        STDIN/STDOUT/STDERR are closed -- other files are not. `%ENV',
        `@ARGV', and `%SIG' are the only globals changed between requests.

    How can I make sure speedy restarts when I edit a perl library used
    by the CGI?
        Do a touch on the main cgi file that is executed. The mtime on the
        main file is checked each time the front-end runs.

    Do I need to be root to install and/or run SpeedyCGI?
        No, root is not required.

    How can I determine if my perl app needs to be changed to work with
    speedy?  Or is there no modification necessary?
        You may have to make modifications.

        Globals retain their values between runs, which can be good for
        keeping persistent database handles for example, or bad if your code
        assumes they're undefined.

        Also, if you create global variables with "my", you shouldn't try to
        reference those variables from within a subroutine - you should pass
        them into the subroutine instead.

        Here's a good explanation of the problem - it's for mod_perl, but
        the same thing applies to speedycgi:

            http://perl.apache.org/faq/mod_perl_cgi.html#Variables_retain_their_value_fro

        If all else fails you can disable persistence by setting MaxRuns to
        1. The only benefit of this over normal perl is that speedy will
        pre-compile your script between requests.

MAILING LIST
    The mailing list address is speedycgi@newlug.org. Subscribe by sending a
    message to speedycgi-request@newlug.org with the word "subscribe" in the
    body.

    An archive of the mailing list is at
    http://newlug.org/mailArchive/speedycgi/ and mirrored at
    http://daemoninc.com/SpeedyCGI/mailArchive/

DOWNLOADING
  Binaries

    Redhat RPMs can be found at:

        http://daemoninc.com/SpeedyCGI/CGI-SpeedyCGI/rpm

    Debian packages can be found at:

        http://www.debian.org/Packages/stable/interpreters/speedy-cgi-perl.html
        http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/web/libapache-mod-speedycgi.html

    The debian packages are not based on the latest version of SpeedyCGI.

  Source Code

    The standard source code distribution can be retrieved from any CPAN
    mirror or from:

        http://daemoninc.com/SpeedyCGI/download.html
        http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-authors/id/H/HO/HORROCKS/

    The latest development code can be obtained from the SourceForge CVS
    repository using the following commands:

     cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.SpeedyCGI.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/SpeedyCGI login 
     cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.SpeedyCGI.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/SpeedyCGI co 2.x

    Press Enter when prompted for a password.

AUTHOR
        Sam Horrocks
        Daemon Consulting Inc.
        http://daemoninc.com
        sam@daemoninc.com

SEE ALSO
    perl(1), httpd(8), apxs(8).

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (C) 2000 Daemon Consulting Inc.

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
    Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
    option) any later version.

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
    WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
    Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
    with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
    59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

